Do Japan’s Feed-In Tariffs for Solar Mean Profits for a Few, Price Hikes for Many?

I was overjoyed to hear that the Japanese legislature has passed a very aggressive plan to rapidly move Japan towards a renewable energy future. In the first year, it is likely to result in the installation of 3-5 GW of photovoltaics, enough to replace 3 nuclear reactors. And growth of the market for PV in Japan will likely undergo exponential growth for years to come.

This growth will come at the expense of 42 yen per KWh. This is the cost that utilities such as ToDen (TEPCO) and KanDen will be forced to pay solar energy producers. Lower feed-in rates are offered for other forms of renewable energy, such as geothermal, wind, hydro, etc. Of course, the utilities are not going to eat the cost of this greener electricity – they will pass it on to the consumer. 42 yen per KWh is about 3 times the going rate for electricity, and well above the actual cost of production.

Many people have the mistaken idea that solar energy is expensive. It isn’t the cheapest form of energy out there (hydro and wind are cheaper), but solar energy is now cheaper than nuclear energy. Costs for solar will continue to fall dramatically into the foreseeable future, while costs for non-renewable energy will continue to rise. Five years from now any debate will be decisively settled in favor of renewables purely on the basis of cost efficiency. But the Japanese ratepayers are now locked in to higher prices in exchange for greener energy.

Solar power is inherently one of the most democratic forms of energy production. Compared to wind or hydro, solar energy can be sited almost anywhere. Solar is also easily scalable, so it can be installed on a few meters of roof space or across many hectares of land. I have nothing against solar companies profiting from the shift towards renewable energy. However, as things stand, all we have is a slightly cleaner, greener version of business as usual in Japan. Those who have money to invest will profit, and those who do not will pay the bill.

Now I’m thinking, it’s actually a most regressive scheme that further traps people into the top-down system. When they say that utilities have to buy alternative electricity, what that actually means is that alternative electricity is obliged to communicate with the grid, and every one has to pay extra for it. It’s essentially a neo head tax. On top of that, the money is not even paid to the government, but to private interests that are using the government to suck the last of the money from everyone.

A True Renewable Energy Revolution for Japan: Power by the People, for the People

I envision a true renewable energy revolution for Japan. One in which clean, safe and inexpensive power is produced by the people for the people. I envision a renewable energy revolution that will show the world that we can power ALL of the world’s energy needs with renewable energy – and that we can do it less expensively than with fossil fuels or nuclear reactors.

Over the last decade, Germany has initiated leadership of the renewable energy revolution and has shown that the technology is ready. Japan has modeled it’s tariffs after this very successful plan, which is a good start.

Yet there is a unique confluence of events that makes Japan the perfect place for the next step in the renewable energy revolution. The tragedy of the Fukushima nuclear accident has galvanized resistance to nuclear power and the energy monopolies that created this mess. 70% of the population opposes restarting the reactors, yet the Japanese government continues forward, leading to a great many questioning whether Japan’s democracy is functioning.

It is time for the Japanese people to take matters into their own hands and do what they do best: cooperative organization.

What I propose is a not-for profit cooperative that will facilitate shifting Japan to 100% renewable energy in two decades or less. We will use volunteer energy, neighborhood and community organizations, the internet, social networks, crowd sourcing and to do it faster, cheaper and more creatively than for-profit corporations could ever dream of doing. We will draw on the united will of the Japanese people to create a world with clean affordable energy – and we will be a model of inspiration for the rest of the world to follow suit.

Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting more about how exactly this can be done – and it can be done. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think so far!

Prime Minister Noda has decided, against the will of the Japanese people, against the will of residents of Fukui Prefecture, and against the will of the world to restart the nuclear reactors at the Oi nuclear waste generating station, placing Japan and the rest of the world under threat of a repeat of the Fukishima disaster. Safety measures are inadequate, and Japan has only met 15 of 30 of the IAEA’s safety requirements.

Media reports of large protests in Japan are being suppressed. Protests are being coordinated at Japanese embassies worldwide, to let the Japanese Prime Minister know that the world is opposed to their action. Whether you can make it to a protest or not, you can definitely call your local Japanese embassy and express your opposition to nuclear power. List thanks to facebook group Fukushima Watchdogs:

Japanese Embassies list worldwide

Here are all the Japanese embassies in the world that we will contact either directly or contact them via email. We expect to march down some of the embassies to scream our miscontent and demand that these murders be stopped at once !

Finally scientists have confirmed what we saw coming from 6,000 miles away: pacific bluefin tuna are now contaminated with significant amounts of radioactive cesium and who-knows-what other isotopes.

Testing of bluefin tuna caught off the coast of California revealed that every one tested contained radiocesium in concentrations as much as 10bq/kq. To put that number in perspective, 100bq/kg would be considered low-level radioactive waste under U.S. environmental law and require special disposal. So, it’s only 10% as bad as officially radioactive waste. Yum!

The numbers are truly shocking. Some of the higher ones would qualify as high-level radioactive waste.

These tuna almost certainly were born off the coast of Japan and recently migrated to the U.S. west coast. The really bad news is that scientists expect the levels to get worse over the next year as tuna that have spent longer in Japanese waters continue to migrate across the pacific.

The glowing sushi jokes that have been circulating for over a year weren’t funny when they started and still aren’t – not because they are inappropriate (they are inappropriate), I just haven’t heard a good one yet. Maybe the radiation has rotted our sense of humor…

At this point, unfortunately it isn’t just the jokes that stink.

It appears that 200 metric tons of sardines have washed up on the shore in Chiba Prefecture, and the odor can be smelled quite a distance from the port. Strange fish kills have been on the rise for years due to the havoc humans have been wreaking on the environment, but the proximity to the largest industrial accident in the history of the world is definitely suggestive of a cause.

Here is a picture of the port, that’s not sand, those are dead fish and that is blood in the water:

Less than a week after that, Mochizuki at Fukushima Diary reports about a similar occurrence – quite a ways away from Chiba in Kanagwa prefecture, along with this photo:

While Fukushima has certainly brought the issue of radioactive fish to the forefront, such contaminated fish have been a fact of life for some time.In August, 2011 Reuters reported that Strontium 90 was found in fish caught in the Connecticut River downstream from the aging Vermont Yankee nuclear waste generating station.

Radioactivity continues to be a significant problem in the Baltic Sea nearly 30 years after the Chernobyl accident. In addition to the Chernobyl legacy, a number of nuclear plants continue to release radioactivity into the Baltic.

The Irish Sea has it’s own problem with radioactivity. The Sellafield site has two retired reactors but still functions as a used fuel reprocessing plant and nuclear waste storage site. Sellafield has been continuously leaking radiation into the Irish Sea since 1952. The following chart, from NoNuclear.SE shows Cesium in fish almost twice as radioactive as the Bluefin Tuna caught off the coast of San Diego:

News media both in Japan and worldwide have parroted the line that the ocean will dilute the radionuclides to insignificant numbers. But history clearly shows that radionuclides persist in the marine environment and accumulate in food chains to a significant degree for a very, very long time. Dilution isn’t a very assuring idea, when there are 439 nuclear reactors around the world, all of them releasing radioactivity in the environment!

What You Can Do:

This blog is loaded with info on how to protect yourself from radiation. If you haven’t already, I highly suggest reading my posts on Probiotics,Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Pectin, and check out the archives as well.

In addition, I encourage you to limit your intake of seafood, especially from the Pacific. Avoid larger predatory fish, such as tuna or shark that tend to bioaccumulate toxic elements. This list describes which fish to avoid in order to decrease mercury exposure, and similar principles should apply with radionuclides.

I also encourage you to practice anti-nuclear activism and make personal choices that decrease our dependency on nuclear power.

Unfortunately, this article from the Japan Times repeats the brainwashing that radiation levels are negligible, as well as nonsense such as hydrogen explosions are what spread the radiation around, when we know their was more than one nuclear criticality at Fukushima. I will also add that radionuclide contamination from Fukushima has been detected in every US state. Due to the continued leakage of the reactors and the reckless policy of incineration of contaminated debris and agricultural wastes, fallout it going to continue to be an issue in North America for some time to come.

Simple solutions: Cesium-134 and -137 are easily dissolved in water, which means rinsing vegetables and fruit can help reduce radiation levels. Cutting vegetables into smaller pieces and soaking them in water is even more effective.

Noguchi says that radiation, though invisible and odorless, can be treated and cleaned up like a stain, noting that by rinsing the food well before cooking, preferably with hot water, and/or boiling or stewing it, a large portion of radioactive elements can be removed. In his book, published in Japanese in mid-July, “Hoshano Osen kara Kazoku wo Mamoru Tabekata no Anzen Manyuaru” (“The Safety Manual for Protecting Your Family From Radiation Contamination”), Noguchi offers tips on how to prepare food, item by item, so consumers can reduce their radiation intake at home.

In the book, he refers to data released in 1994 by Japan’s semi-public Radioactive Waste Management Center (now the Radioactive Waste Management Funding and Research Center). The center’s report, titled “Removal of Radionuclides during Food Processing and Culinary Preparation,” compiled results of detailed tests conducted in Europe and Japan following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

“This is not something we must absolutely do,” he said about radiation-removal steps. “But since we don’t know how much — within the safety limits — food is irradiated, taking these steps can safeguard us further.”

Here are some of Noguchi’s tips on preparing major food groups:

Vegetables

A series of hydrogen explosions at the plant in March resulted in the release of large amounts of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, tainting vegetables and fruits grown outdoors. They also contaminated soil with iodine-131, cesium-134 and cesium-137. Iodine-131 is no longer detectable due to its short half-life of eight days. The cesium isotopes, meanwhile, need long-term monitoring because cesium-134 takes two years to decrease by half and cesium 137’s half-life is 30 years.

The good news is, cesium can be easily dissolved in water. So the best way to prepare vegetables and fruits is to rinse them well before cooking. If possible, cut vegetables into small pieces and soak them in water for a while.

More radiation in spinach and other leafy vegetables can be removed if they are boiled. As for lettuces, throw away the outer leaf and rinse the rest well. Data from Chernobyl shows that rinsing lettuce can remove up to half of the cesium-134 and two thirds of the cesium-137. Cucumbers can be pickled with vinegar, which cuts radiation by up to 94 percent. Peeling carrots and boiling them with salted hot water would also help reduce cesium levels.

Meat and fish

Livestock can be tainted through the grass and water they consume. Well-grilled, salt-sprinkled beef poses less risk than anything cooked to a medium-rare or medium state, by cutting 28 percent of cesium, according to a Chernobyl-tied study. Boiling leg meat has been proved to reduce cesium by about 50 percent. Make sure to drain off the hot water. Don’t worry about the pork bone broth; cesium accumulates mostly in meat, not bones, and the levels of strontium-90, which does accumulate in bones, are negligible.

For fish and other seafood, however, watch out for strontium-90, which has a half-life of 29 years. According to Noguchi, far greater quantities of strontium-90 were released into the ocean than into the air and ground. Contrary to popular thinking, large fish are not necessarily riskier to consume. Though large fish do eat smaller fish, which leads some to believe they accumulate more radioactive materials, Noguchi says it is the small fish and flat fish that have stayed close to the Fukushima plant that pose more risk. Unlike large fish that swim longer distances, small fish cannot move far from contaminated areas.

With tuna fish, rinse with water before eating or cooking. Boiling or marinating salmon helps remove cesium-137, and avoid eating fish bones, as they could contain strontium-90.

Rice and wheat

Much has been said about the nutritiousness of brown rice, but when it comes to radiation, it is the bran layer beneath the husk that absorbs and accumulates cesium from soil. That means white, polished rice, which has no bran layer, is a safer option — though it does contain fewer vitamins, minerals and fiber than brown rice. If you rinse white rice well before cooking, you can also remove radiation-emitting residue on the grain.

Wheat products such as bread, spaghetti and noodles pose very little risk, since 90 percent of wheat in Japan has been imported from overseas. For those concerned with radiation in pasta or noodles made from wheat in Japan, the thinner the noodle, the more cesium released when cooked.

Dairy products

Fresh milk from Fukushima Prefecture was suspended from the market from mid-March until the end of April after it was found to contain radioactive iodine. The air and grass consumed by dairy cows had been contaminated. Authorities have since been keeping an eye on levels of radiation in milk, so you need not worry too much about the products currently on sale.

Cheese and butter are fine, too, because, during their production, the milk whey — the liquid that gets separated from curd — is removed. While rich in nutrition, cesium and strontium tend to remain in whey. Yogurt, which usually has whey floating on top, also undergoes radiation checks before going on the market, but if you are still worried, pour off the whey before you eat the yogurt.

Seaweed

Wakame (soft seaweed) and kombu (kelp) are integral parts of the Japanese diet. They flew off store shelves in the wake of the nuclear disaster, when consumers heard that the natural iodine in them might help them fight radiation contamination.

Seaweed from the sea close to the nuclear plant, however, will likely absorb high levels of radiation in the coming years. You can rinse it before cooking, or choose seaweed harvested elsewhere.

Kunikazu Noguchi’s book, “Hosha no Osen kara Kazoku wo Mamoru Tabekata no Anzen Manyuaru” (“The Safety Manual for Protecting Your Family from Radiation Contamination”), was published by Seishun Shuppansha in July, in Japanese only, priced at ¥1,000.

Excerpt from a guest post over at ex-skf, one of my favorite sources for the latest on the Japanese situation:

I live in Osaka and sourcing clean food for our toddler son has become the biggest concern of ours, after monitoring the fallout plumes and contamination in our vicinity (which thankfully, seems to be quite limited compared to California, my home state). We have always been interested in buying healthy food and have belonged to COOP for many years.

…..

Basically, the story is this: the further north and east you go, the less likely the COOPs are to disclose testing results as this might well embarrass their long-standing farming/food sources, while to the south and west, this is less likely to happen as their food sources are generally less suspect.

Often, when I read your blog, which I admire and recommend widely, the reports of contaminated food are then commented on by the readers as proof that sourcing food is dangerous and tricky, when actually, if one knows the resources, it is not the case. COOP generally charges 10-20% more than your typical retail supermarkets, but the more radical of the COOPs (like Shizenha) go further by indicating exactly who is tested and what is found. If those who are really concerned about finding safe food for their families are aware of this, they can also benefit from membership to the more transparent COOPs (others probably do exist which I’m not aware of). As of this week, Shizenha will allow shipping to the northern parts of Japan (for a bigger, refundable membership deposit of 20,000 yen vs. the regular 10,000), in an effort to obviously shame the other COOPs who are more hesitant to state reality as it really is, into being more forthcoming with the testing results.

Like this:

For those who aren’t familiar with the various units and numbers related to radioactivity, 28,000 bq/kg is a stunning measure of radioactivity. This highly concentrated radioactive waste! You wouldn’t want to stand near it for long, never mind eating it!

Mushrooms are known to concentrate radionuclides at up to 10,000 times the levels in the background environment. One must be very careful about the origin of mushrooms before eating them.

It also reaffirms the importance of pectin as the most effective chelator for radioactive cesium.

“It’s not food any more, it’s simply radioactive materials”, as the young man at theCitizen’s Radioactivity Measuring Station in Fukushima City said of the radioactive mushroom in Germany’s ZDF program aired on August 9.

Wild mushroom harvested in a town in Fukushima tested highest ever radioactive cesium so far in food after the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident that I’m aware of:28,000 becquerels per kilogram.

According to the data from Fukushima Prefecture, 13,000 becquerels/kg of cesium-134, and 15,000 becquerels/kg of cesium-137 were detected from the mushroom.

The town, Tanakura-machi, is located at about 73 kilometers southwest of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

Fukushima Prefecture announced on September 3 that 28,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from wild mushroom, Lactarius volemus, harvested in the mountains in Tanakura-machi. The level of radioactive cesium vastly exceeds the national provisional safety limit of 500 becquerels/kg.

It is still early in the season for this particular mushroom and it is not sold in the market. The prefectural government notified the town and the distributors to voluntarily halt harvesting and shipping of wild mushrooms includingLactarius volemus.

According to the prefectural government, the mushroom was harvested on September 1. The government is going to test the mushrooms nearby for radioactive materials, and put up signs calling for voluntary halt on harvesting.

In Fukushima Prefecture, 3,200 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium has been detected from Lactarius volemus harvested in Furudono-machi. The prefectural government says, “We are surprised at the extremely high number. We will continue to investigate and identify the cause”.

Like this:

CEREA, is a French environmental and atmospheric research center. The following two maps represent computer simulations of the deposition of cesium 137 from the Fukushima and Chernobyl accidents. The simulation from the Fukushima accident shows an area of high deposition in eastern Japan, and very little deposition in western Japan and Hokkaido. The United States and Canada appear to have a received a much less concentrated deposition than eastern Japan, however, especially Alaska and the Pacific northwest have been deemed to have received significant fallout, though much lower than that received by almost of Europe after the Chernobyl Accident.

The maps are quite informative, particularly when compared to each other. However it must be stressed that these are merely educated guesses rather than actually measurements of what has happened. Fluid dynamics are notoriously difficult to predict, pointing to the necessity for ongoing testing and research for levels of environmental contamination. Radioactive fallout does not happen evenly. It is highly dependent on precipitation, leading to areas that may be significantly more radioactive than others . Further, once fallout lands, it has a clear tendency to concentrate into hotspots. Low places, such as gullies or puddles are prime candidates.

For comparison’s sake, let’s put up a map of Chernobyl. This is somewhat reassuring, in that most of the US has received less contamination than Europe as a whole. CEREA considers the Chernobyl simulation to have more certainty than the Fukushima simulation, due to the data that has been gathered since the Chernobyl accident, however, it is still a simulation.

So, for Japan, the good news is that western Japan and Hokkaido seems relatively unscathed. Unfortunately, the Japanese government seems intent on shipping waste all over the country for incineration, which is not a bright idea.

For North America the bad news is that radioactive fallout from Fukushima appears to be widespread, though the levels are not terribly high. There is reason for concern, as we have added to our overall levels of exposure to ionizing radiation and environmental toxins in general. However, following the guidelines for a radioprotective and anti-cancer diet and lifestyle should far outweigh the risks associated with this level of contamination.